Since the first glimpse of a menacing plunger at the end of Doctor Who’s fifth episode on 21 December 1963, Skaro’s hate-filled mutants have been a permanent fixture in the show’s 51-year history.
To celebrate, CultBox decided to count down every Dalek story on screen (cameo appearances notwithstanding) and reveal our all-time favourite…
10. ‘The Stolen Earth’ / ‘Journey’s End’ (2008)
A fiendish Dalek plot to destroy all life in the universe involved the abduction and invasion of Earth, drawing together a host of the Doctor’s friends and allies.
The tale also saw the return of Davros, freed from inside the Time War to assist his malignant creations.
9. ‘The Day of the Doctor’ (2013)
While they were perhaps not the primary focus of the Doctor’s 50th Anniversary adventure, its epic Time War flashbacks saw the Daleks overwhelm Gallifrey’s second city of Arcadia.
Coming to terms with his War Doctor incarnation, the story culminates in the climatic scenes of Gallifrey being surrounded by the Dalek fleet for the final moments of the war.
8. ‘Power of the Daleks’ (1966)
Sadly missing from the archives, the Second Doctor’s debut tale saw him recovering from his physical change and taking on devious Daleks.
Revived from a crashed spaceship, they soon get the upper hand manipulating the human scientist who revives them and the Doctor has to convince the colonists of the threat they pose.
7. ‘Army of Ghosts’ / ‘Doomsday’ (2006)
Hiding the enemy in plain sight for a dramatic cliff-hanger reveal we finally enjoyed Daleks vs Cybermen or, as the creatures from Skaro termed it, “pest control”.
Introducing the Cult of Skaro, a radical Dalek strategy group, the tale leads to the heart-breaking separation of Rose Tyler from her Doctor.
6. ‘Into the Dalek’ (2014)
Riffing off Fantastic Voyage, this miniaturisation adventure sees the freshly regenerated Twelfth Doctor and Clara enter the shell of an apparently good Dalek in order to fix it.
As well as probing the creature’s psyche, the tale boasts some of the most fantastic Dalek on Dalek action sequences we have seen and a tougher, uncompromising Doctor.
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